Sunday, October 31, 2010

Having come across a couple of recipes for fruit mince recently I thought that I'd have go at making some and have come to the conclusion that it is the most versatile & delicious recipe of the season.
I am a give-me-the-recipe, show-me-the-lovely-pictures, then-make-it-up-as-you-go-along sort of girl. I have had to do a wee bit of research on this one as fruit mince has never really made much sense to me apart from being delicious & usually hidden in wee pies. It really does carry quite an aura of mystique about it & harbours just a suspicion of trickiness pfff....if you can chop stuff you can make fruit mince...& who said that it had to be minced anyway!!???
It's a pretty medieval concoction (literally) & was banned at one stage before making a comeback in smaller pie form. The traditional lard ie beef fat was probably originally added as a preservative as was the spice & the plonk, however, all that is really required is a quantity of dried fruits to taste & budget & availability.

I have used lots of apricots, prunes, golden sultanas & sticky raisins in this particular mix.
Dried currants, ginger, dried pear, figs, dates, cranberries, razz cherries etc are also possibilities.
I chose to slice the fruit in to slivers rather than dice it but feel free to make it up as you go along.
Add a tsp of really good ground cinnamon.
Lots of orange & lemon zest & juice..probably at least 3 oranges.
1/2 cup of brown sugar or runny honey. ( My favourite honey of all is rewa rewa.)
1/2 cup of brandy.
And 2 grated apples..wash, don't need to peel.
I have deliberately left out the suet, butter, mixed spice & artificial vanilla essence..ahh, much better!

Mix all together, cover & let it sit for 24 hours. Now, have a little taste & tell me that it'll make it to Christmas! You could seal it in jars but that would be silly really. It'll keep fine in a bowl or jar in the fridge.

Mix altogether.
Cool for a bit, then add 2 cups of wholemeal flour.
For this loaf I used a cup of blue konini wheat flour & 1 cup of 7 grain zentrofen.
I like to use good flours so that it's not just baking but more a wholesome food!

Spoon in to a greased loaf tin & cook for around 50 mins at 180 degrees C
Ginger & prunes make a lovely combination. A very fragrant pruny gingerbread really.

In a mixing bowl stir together the flours, sesame seeds, oregano and salt. Mix the oils and water together and add to the dry ingredients, stirring to form a soft, pliable dough.

Divide the dough into 4 pieces and roll each out on a lightly floured board as thinly as possible. Each quarter should yield a rectangle of about 34 x 16cm (13 x 6 inches). Cut each rectangle into strips of about 4 x 17cm (1.5 x 6.5 inches) and roll again - they need to be virtually see-through.

Carefully transfer the strips to a baking tray, brush them lightly with oil and sprinkle lightly with flaky salt. Bake until they are crisp and pale golden, about 15-18 minutes. Allow to cool fully before storing in an airtight container.

Katie's Kindred Cook Matt

..would be very happy to hear from you if you have any queries about the sourdough starter, bread making in general, making pasta, roasting coffee or almost anything else that you can think of..email him at upcycledvintage@gmail.comSpecial note: please check in with Matt first before using the pictures from this blog. Thanks so much : )